Review of Lucy, directed by Luc Besson

I don’t know the first time I encountered that Lucy existed somewhere out there in the world, but I remember being vaguely confused at the fact that Choi Min-sik and Scarlet Johansson were in a movie together. I kept encountering this movie throughout the years, and was shook every single time I was reminded these two were the stars.

That said, on one really boring Tuesday, I was off from work and school and was in dire need of something to watch. I did my usual routine of opening Netflix, and scrolling for ten minutes in hopes that something would just tell me to watch it.

So I played my version of movie roulette! I close my eyes and press the arrow buttons for a bit, then when I open them I watch whatever movie I landed on. And this time, I opened my eyes and saw that Lucy, with a cute little red “Leaving Soon” banner, was right in front of me.

Let’s get into the review!

An American woman studying in Taipei finds herself with drugs sewn inside her and in a mess of a situation.

Our protagonist in this movie is Lucy, an American studying and living in Taipei. She’s got a new boyfriend, Richard, but he does something awful: he sells her out and tricks her into working for the South Korean drug lords and mafia.

She’s the one who has to deliver a briefcase full of drugs to the head of the mafia, Mr. Jang. Somewhere along the way, Richard is killed by gunfire, she is captured, and the drug is sewn into her abdomen. She now has to transport is to Europe, which is a task in itself, but then a guy kicks her in the stomach.

This makes the bag burst, and the drugs absorb into her system. Lucy discovers this increases her mental capacity, and she can now mentally time travel and do telekineses, as well as becoming incapable of feeling pain anymore. With her emotions gone, she kills everyone who held her there and just leaves.

She heads to the hospital first, where she discovers that the drug is produced by pregnant women. She finds her abilities growing, so she hunts down Mr. Jang and assaults him, kills all of the guards, and steals the locations of the remaining drugs from him. Then, she contacts a scientist who’s done some research on this.

She flies to Paris, to recruit a police captain there, and decides to find the rest of the drugs. On the flight, though, she sips champagne and ends up destabilizing her cells, which causes her to start falling apart. This makes her take more of the drugs to literally stay whole.

The police captain helps her find the rest of the drugs, and she agrees to share everything she knows with the scientists. There’s a weird scene where she discusses how nature, life, and humanity distort perception, and then she consumes the remaining three bags of the drug.

Mr. Jang and his crew have been looking for the drugs, though, and storm the building while this happens. The rest of the crew tries to protect Lucy as the next big thing happens.

This causes her to turn into a black substance, and it spills onto all of the computers to turn into a supercomputer, erasing Lucy from the equation. She meets the oldest ancestor Lucy, and they have some quiet moments together before she witnesses the Big Bang.

Mr. Jang is taken down when he reaches the room, but Lucy is gone. The scientist takes a flash drive from the supercomputer, which falls apart after the fact. The phone rings, and then Lucy can be heard saying she’s everywhere, and that they now know what to do with life.

Overall Thoughts

Y’all, I think there was a reason I procrastinated on watching this after all these years. It was a very odd movie, that’s for sure. I can see how someone out there might like it, and kudos to them, but I was not a fan.

The fact these drugs unlock the hidden meanings and powers of life is fascinating within itself, but this movie felt like it was in between something. We have the action and story path of Lucy, but then it feels like we don’t get an emotional payoff because we don’t spend enough time with these characters.

That said, I’m glad I watched it, but I don’t think I would return to it again.

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